Roman Kreuziger handed provisional doping ban

Roman Kreuziger was provisionally suspended by the UCI on Saturday. He will not be allowed to start the Tour of Poland or other races until the disciplinary proceedings are complete. Photo:

PARIS (AFP) — Czech rider Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo) has been provisionally suspended with immediate effect for an anti-doping rule violation based on his biological passport, the UCI announced on Saturday.

“The decision was taken following confirmation received on August 1, 2014 that Roman Kreuziger intended to participate in the upcoming Tour of Poland and Vuelta a España,” the UCI said in a statement.

Kreuziger, 28, finished fifth in last year’s Tour de France but was told by his team, Tinkoff-Saxo, that he would not take part in this year’s edition of the race after the problems were initially discovered.

He will now face disciplinary proceedings for the anomalies in his biological passport, which relate to the periods between March and August 2011, and April 2012 until the end of that year’s Giro d’Italia.

At that time he was riding for the Kazakh team, Astana.

Tinkoff-Saxo said that Kreuziger “will remain suspended from all racing until a verdict has been reached.”

However, they said, “Tinkoff-Saxo cannot avoid criticizing the timing of this decision — as the rider and team was notified less than 24 hours before the start of the Tour of Poland.

“The team notes that this materially impairs its participation in this important race and that Kreuziger receives his provisional suspension without solid evidence of any wrongdoing but only based on the opinion of medical experts of the UCI Anti-doping Commission.”